Last night was fun. But it’s just one win. Back to work today.

The most interesting news today is a direct result of the injury tarantula which has stung the Texas Rangers over and over, and likely makes them big sellers over the rest of the month. Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi is reporting that the Tigers have express interest in Joakim Soria.

Soria was injured all of 2012 and most of 2013, but he’s been in great form in 2014, posting a 2.76 ERA and .818 whip in 29 1/3 this year. H’s striking out a career high 12.3/9 and has only walked 4 this year against 40 Ks, for a ridiculous 10/1 SO/W ratio.

The Tigers’ pen ranks 27th in the bigs. I have no idea what you do with Joe Nathan if we get Soria, but that’s for Ausmus to work out. Note, I haven’t seen anything on Hanrahan in weeks.

*****

Clayton Kershaw’s scoreless innings streak ended at 41 innings last night. He still managed a CG 3 hitter, where he threw 85 strikes against 30 balls. There was a period in time when JV was the unquestioned #1 in all of MLB. I don’t think anyone would argue who owns that title now.

Sanchez v. lefty Danny Duffy tonight.

1. Jackson, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Hunter, RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Suarez, SS
8. Holaday, C
9. Davis, LF

Standings Update

Det     50-37     —
KC      47-43     4.5
Cle     44-46     7.5
CWS   44-48     8.5
Min    41-49     10.5

AL Standings
Oak     57-34     —
Det     50-37     5
Bal     49-41      7.5 (yes, Baltimore. Is anyone paying attention to this?)

The Tigers are off to Kansas City for the final 4 before the All Star break. BRef preview here.

Remember last time we played and KC and they left Detroit in first place? Royals Review fondly reminisces to prelude a wonderful weekend preview. Highlights: The Tigers are 13-5 since then while the Royals have gone 8-10. Alex Gordon is out for the weekend, and Jason Vargas is going to have to miss a start which means that we get Bruce Chen! Chen has a 50% chance of throwing a CGSO and a 50% chance of getting pulled by the 2nd inning.

If I recall correctly, the high water mark this year was 17 over. A sweep gets us there. A sweep the wrong way puts us at 9 over at the AS game, but still up .5 games. I expect 2-2 on our way to a 93 win season finishing 6 games ahead of every other team in the Central. (update – it was 15 over on May 18)

Did you vote for #PickRick for the Final Vote (aka “one more sponsorship haul” around MLB headquarters). I did, and it was remarkably easy to do so. Kudos to MLB. I even felt good about myself for a minute. Then one of my kids started screaming b/c the spoon I gave her wasn’t the “right one.” But my vote, and all the rest for Porcello, weren’t enough as Chris Sale won the Final Vote. There is still a chance that Ricky gets added due to injury, which would be a nice reward for a heck of a first half. Ausmus said today that no decision has been made yet regarding VMart’s participation.

Here’s your daily fun with JD: J.D. Martinez has started in 21 straight games. Over those 21 games, Martinez is hitting .393 (33-for-84) with eight homers, 18 RBIs and a modest 1.255 OPS. For the season, he’s hitting .329 with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs — and a team-best .642 slugging percentage — in just 173 at-bats since getting called up from Toledo in late April. It’s a very small sample size, and this happens all the time around MLB. Enjoy it while it lasts. I’ll be thrilled if he can settle into a Chet Lemon like .270/20 HR/80 RBI guy year after year. Read the whole write-up on JD at DetroitNews.com today.

**********

Injury updates for the weekend contestants:

 Tigers outfielder Andy Dirks continued his injury-rehab assignment with Class A Lakeland on Wednesday night, going 1-for-2 and playing leftfield. In two games with Lakeland, Dirks is hitting .400 with two runs scored. He has been sidelined since March 29 because of lower back surgery. … Kansas City Royals left-hander Jason Vargas was taken to the hospital Wednesday and had an appendectomy. There was no timetable given for how long Vargas will be out. Bruce Chen could replace Vargas for Sunday’s game against the Tigers. Royals All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup due to a sprained right wrist. He will have an MRI and see a hand specialist today.

Cabrera is back, Kelly for Davis in right, and VMart is still not in the lineup…though I couldn’t find any news other than day to day.

1. Jackson, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez (JD), LF
5. Hunter, DH
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Kelly, RF

So much to talk about.

We could start with Rick Porcello, who finds himself in serious All-Star starter contention after posting his second consecutive complete game shutout.  His four hit gem yesterday saw first pitch strikes to 24 of 31 batters, and extended his scoreless streak to 25 innings. Porcello had 0 Ks and 0 walks last night, the first time that has happened in a CG shutout in 25 years.

His success is coming despite a K rate of 5.2 /9. His success can be attributed to a number of things, but defense has got to be a big part of it. Porcello is inducing groundballs like pro-am day at the driving range. More agile, and well placed, fielders are making a huge difference.

And how about JD Martinez? In June he slugged at a .702 clip and posted a 1.069 OPS, and he’s on pace for a 2.000 OPS for July!

Continuing, starting pitching has returned to form as of late, and if JV wins today, he’ll be at .500 for the season. I still don’t get how the 1st inning run in his last start out was earned. WP gets Altuve the 3rd, wild throw, an error on Avila, gets the run home. Are pitchers at fault b/c of the wild pitch?

Anyway, a chance to sweep the AL leading and monster hitting A’s doesn’t come about every day. It would be a great way to hammer the final nail in the 10-20 coffin (though I think that thing is pretty well sealed).

1. Jackson, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Hunter, DH
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Last night’s ultimate slam was epic. I felt fortunate to be listening. But it only counts as one win. We gotta win this series.

For whatever reason the Tigers have had the A’s number over the past few years, and David Schoenfiled postulates that the Tigers may be in Oakland’s head. I wouldn’t take it that far, but it has been wonderful theater.

*****

Last night the ’84 team was honored (again). It’s still cool. Check out the fans roaring “Louuuuuuuuuu” one more time. Man I used to love that.

We should have a Trammell/Whitaker HoF discussion on here one day. I called into a local radio show when I was 14 and asked about them. They hosts said they were on the fence.

VMart is out again, hopefully this doesn’t last much longer.

1. Jackson, CF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Hunter, RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Holaday, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, LF

44-34, 1st place, 3.5 up on KC.

Tough series over the weekend. The Tigers led for what, 1 inning out of 27? The Astros are playing some good baseball these days. They are going to be fun to watch over the next few years. They really played well against the Tigers, excelling in all facets of the game. Altuve just tied a major league record with four consecutive games of multiple stolen bases, the last three against the noodle armed Avila/Holaday combo. Did we ever get Altuve out?

Despite all of that, the Tigers had plenty of opportunity to sweep the series. I’m not sure how to calculate BABIP over three games, but I am certain that we were way low from a balls in play stand-point. The Tigers were ripping the ball left and right.

So in comes the MLB best Oakland Athletics. There’s lots of talk about post-season history and a face-off of the AL’s best, but in all reality, this series isn’t that big. Sure, it could be seen as a measuring stick, but we live in the AL Central, and a ruler will suffice where most divisions need yardsticks.

Kazmir v. Sanchez today.

VMart scratched with “soreness.”

1. Davis, LF
2. Kinsler, 2B
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez JD, DH
5. Hunter, RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Jackson, CF

The number that pleased me most from last night’s game is “1”.

Not because Nathan only gave up 1 run, though that may be cause to celebrate.

Not because in what is being regarded as Coke’s finest outing all season he only gave up 1 hit.

But the number I’m thinking of is 1 walk issued by Verlander. After talking about Verlander’s location issues in yesterday’s pregame, he was a sniper last night, walking only 1 against 8 Ks in 7 innings. I too was initially perplexed as to why he didn’t go 8, but I think that Ausmus was protecting Verlander a bit, which I don’t have a problem with. Highlights here.

Scherzer climbs the hill looking for the sweep this afternoon against righty Josh Tomlin.

A few notes:

– Ian Krol was sent to the DL last night with “shoulder inflammation” which is otherwise known as “crappy pitching.”

– Hunter is available to pinch hit today, and is expected to start on Tuesday.

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Jackson, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Martinez, RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Romine, SS
9. Davis, LF

Justin Verlander’s name comes up again in the rotation, and this will be his 8th shot at getting back into form. In the last 8 Tiger starts, we have 6 QS, and 2 non QS – Verlander and Scherzer. Those guys are allowed to have off-games, but we pay them in part to prevent slides like this. Neither JV nor Scherzer is doing his job this year.

Matthew Leach of MLB.com posted a tremendous article about Verlander’s decline yesterday. Leach makes a compelling argument that Verlander’s location is really the problem; which makes me thing that this can be fixed. It’s an arm angle, or a landing spot, or something in the mechanics. The velocity is there, and I think the movement is there on the secondary pitches. But he has got to want to get better.

LHP Pat McCoy has been called up from Toledo, and he’s not on the 40 man. Move coming shortly.

7:15 PM start tonight against the kid Bauer. Bauer has been decent enough this year – 4.20 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, and he held Detroit to 2 ER over 6 a month ago.

1. Kinsler, 2B
2. Jackson, CF
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Martinez, DH
5. Martinez, RF
6. Castellanos, 3B
7. Avila, C
8. Suarez, SS
9. Davis, LF